A clamp can be defined as a tool for holding one or more components firmly in place. As such, clamps are used for a multitude of applications in various industries. For example, hose clamps can be used for attaching one cylindrically shaped object, e.g. a hose, onto another cylindrically shaped object, e.g. a hose fitting or nib. The tightening of the hose clamp is typically afforded by a screw thread pattern within a band of the clamp and a captive screw turning and interacting with the thread pattern.
Another example of a clamp designed to attach one cylindrical shaped component to another cylindrical shaped component includes a hollow tube with internal diameter threads to be tightened onto a threaded shaft. The hollow tube typically has an axially oriented slot at the threaded end, the slot extending radically through the wall of the tube. The slot provides for relatively easy turning of the tube onto the threaded shaft until a desired position between the two is reached. The slot also allows for the hollow tube sidewall to be tightened upon and collapse onto the threaded shaft.
Heretofore clamps have not allowed a user to manipulate the hollow tube with internal diameter threads on the threaded shaft and simultaneously maintain the clamp in a fixed radial or angular position. As such, each time an adjustment is made between the hollow tube and the shaft, the clamp has to be realigned before tightening. Therefore, there is a need for an improved clamp that can tighten around a hollow cylindrical shaped structure placed over a smaller cylindrical shaped structure while maintaining the cylindrical shaped structures in a fixed angular relationship.